​Jill Stein on Supporting California’s Green candidates; Latinx Greens; Green Party members in local office; Open debate and the Right to vote; Green-Party policy priorities; Long-term alliances and Uniting around issues; State-level races; Top-two races; the Corporate media; Internet censorship; getting Money out of Politics; Real versus Staged news and Ranked choice voting.

​#WeThePeople had a special guest on October 25th, 2018. Thank you (Sadie) – John says, for setting this up and we now welcome to the show Dr. Jill Stein!

Our guest is headed to California tomorrow – he continues, to support a lot of Green Party candidates. Myth has it - Jill Stein says, that the Green Party just runs a Presidential candidate every 4 years and that they go to sleep in-between elections. That’s not true at all. We really are a grassroots, bottom-up party.

Slide: To show perhaps that there are indeed Green Party candidates outside of Jill Stein, John puts up a slide mentioning Laura Wells who is running for House of Representatives, District 13 (CA).

There are some really dynamite candidates at all levels we learn. Jill is going to Coachella where a young man - Victor Alcantara, is running for city council for the first time. He is Latinx and a very active member of the community – she says. Thus far, he has felt incredibly unrepresented. Like many Latinos and Latinas he has felt thrown under the bus, previously by the Deporter-in-Chief and now by the outrageous policies of Donald Trump. The Latinx turnout in the midterms is very uncertain for obvious historic reasons, and now Donald Trump is engaged in this horrendous persecution of refugees coming to this country in the caravan from Honduras - fleeing violence and chaos which was instigated in part by centuries of colonialism and oppression, and most recently a military coup supported by Obama, and by HRC. They are fleeing U.S. policies and militarism and when Trump talks about the aid going to Central America, that’s mostly military aid and policing. It’s not surprising that they are fleeing. Anyway, it’s exciting to see many Latinx candidates coming into the Green Party.

Slide: Announcing Nuestra Comunidad Primero / Our Community First. It is a gathering in Coachella on October 26th, 2018. Jill invites everyone in the vicinity to come along.

John has heard of Victor Alcantara and he was impressed by him. Jill says that there are already about 150 Green Party members in local office, from Commissioners of Parks (and Public Property) to (Economic) Development Commissions to Library Boards and Education Boards. We are very active at all levels of our community, but as you know we are systematically wiped out of the news cycle. In the last Presidential election something like 75% of Americans are on record - in polls, screaming for open debate in order to find out what their other choices were, and they were systematically denied that knowledge. In America we should have the right to vote - yet millions are denied that right, and we should have the right to know who we can vote for too. All the things that appeal to people about Bernie Sanders’ agenda … healthcare as a human right through an approved Medicare-for-All system, strong public education, free public higher-education … We’ve been on that for a very long time. We’ve been ahead of the curve on equal marriage, green energy etc.

John and Jill kid about Jill’s dog who photobombs the shot.

On the 27th (of October 2018), Dr. Rodolfo Cortes Barragan, Laura Wells and Kenneth Mejia will be attending the Summit for Independent Politics, where Jill is the special guest. There are a whole series of panels focusing on key issues for the Los Angeles area, including: Affordable housing and Prop 10; Environmental pollution and Climate change; Justice reform and specifically Police reform and Immigration reform. These three Congressional candidates are in top-two races, so there is no chance of splitting the vote (which doesn’t happen anyway – Jill says). In 2016 most Green Party votes came from the non-voting bloc. They wouldn’t otherwise BE voting. Democrats and Republicans don’t own our votes – Jill says. Are we seeing the results of that in the popularity of the Green Party candidates in their runs - John asks? He refers to a Democratic candidate who is also endorsed by the Green Party. I’m seeing a lot of that – he says, where the Independent voters or the Progressives in the party - wherever they are, are coming together around the person not the letter. Yes – Jill replies. People have lost faith and confidence in the political parties that are bought and paid for by Big-money. She refers to non-corporate parties and then says that many people in the Green Party say it is a Non-Party because they don’t share the tribalism of political parties but they really support the agenda. Even more than personalities – she says, people believe that we have to form long-term alliances in order to advance a non-corporate agenda because we don’t have the corporate money, just the people and the power of our vision and the things that we need. That need is growing more urgent by the day. We have 12 years - says John. Yes, if even - says Jill. Climate change and nuclear weapons, these are not just a Donald Trump problem. Jill says that the Democratic Establishment always talks about the right stuff - until they get into power and then they don’t do (anything about) it. John laughs and agrees. They refer back to Obama and the bailing out of the banks, and the disappointment of it all.

John says he didn’t wake up until “Bernie” and then watched MSM blackout both Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders. Given that - he says, it’s amazing where we are at today and how we have been able to push the message through. And talking about introspection - the Democratic Party has none at the top level, but I’m seeing a lot of battles going on at the State level – in Oregon. We have a progressive majority here but some people at the top are still clutching on to the purse strings. What worries Jill is that this is not new with the Democrats. She refers to Henry Wallace and his mike being shut off, way back when.

Slide: John shows another slide - advertising the Northern California Green Power Rally. This is an event on the 28th of October 2018. Jill Stein and the Bay Area Green Party candidates: Aidan Hill, Saied Karamooz, Mike Murphy and Laura Wells will be there.

Jill is excited about the elections and especially about Rodolfo’s and Kenneth’s races. There are no excuses because they are challenging Establishment Democrats, both sponsored by corporate money. There is really no need to shy away from what we need. Both of these Green Party candidates look and talk like the community they already serve. What’s not to love about them? Whether they win or not, it is a win to stand up and be heard – she says. How has the response been - asks John? They aren’t getting media coverage but they are getting great response door-to-door – she replies. Rodolfo is very good with numbers and is keeping track of the results of his canvassing. 90% of the time when people hear and have a chance to actually learn about him, they change their vote. The issue is money and coverage. This is why independent media like this is so critical. You cannot have democracy without an educated electorate. We are seeing that lesson on steroids with the media being so toxic. We badly need more of what you are doing, so thank you so much – Jill says to John and Laura.

Any questions Laura? Melissa from Vermont - who is in YouTube chat, wonders whether you might be planning to run for Congress, as it seems like this might be your best place to win and get exposure in order to put forth bills to save our planet and our people – Laura reports. This is a possibility and thank you for the suggestion – Jill replies. Where I am right now is mostly trying to help other candidates to sort of clone us, because that is what we need. The bogus spoiler accusations are a big deterrent to successful campaigns. I’m not in California unfortunately, so I’m trying to help these great candidates. As regards Congress I agree, but it’s not so easy to win and Congressional Districts are big. Jill thinks State level is a good place for Greens to concentrate on breaking in at. It’s the best bang for your buck so to speak, and you can move on from there. You can get out and canvass and personally go door-to-door and have contact with a State-Representative sized district. I saw a statistic - I think on PBS NewsHour tonight in fact, that 80% of Congressional races are won by the candidate with the most money. However even to compete you need a lot of money. It’s crazy. We are headed for a crash-landing in one form or another. It is really important for us to be developing our connections at a community level and to be fighting for democracy. I’m going to pin you down a little here – John says. By 2020 you could be in California. Is that what I’m hearing – he asks with a wide smile? Jill and Laura laugh. Now let’s see, most of my family is here on the East coast – Jill replies. Ah, I guess - John says, everybody is hoping you will run for something. He encourages Jill, telling her she has the credibility and that she is an asset to the Green Party and to everybody who wants to save humanity, so she really should run again. Laura adds that Jill is an asset doing what she is doing now also. Jill says that she very much believes that we are all assets to each other and more than the sum of our parts.

The critical challenge for us right now is to find ways to run without needing billions of dollars (which leave you accountable to donors). The internet is one of them. Many of those internet tools are being deeply compromised in this new era of McCarthyism, which is censoring us – as you well know, in every dimension – she says. She lists legacy media, the internet, the loss of net neutrality, the censorship of progressive-left and anti-war sites, the new algorithms on social media … but e-mail can still be a very effective means of communication. Here Jill encourages people to connect with her on social media (detail below video) and to stay in touch because we are going to have to work together for the foreseeable future – she emphasizes. John agrees.

John wants to talk about accountability now. It seems we have a Democratic Party that doesn’t want to look at itself and a surge of Progressives trying to come in from all across the spectrum. We talked about media. When is media going to have some introspection? How do we deal with that? Do we have to put people in power first - to make laws to control them again … because we don’t control this narrative? What can we do at a grassroots level? You can do more of what you are doing right now - Jill answers, grassroots community-based media – as the norm not the rare exception. The big corporate media needs to be broken up. We need anti-trust laws. Even PBS is partly sponsored by the Koch Brothers and you see it in their programming. The same is true even for National Public Radio. It has all been really corporatized. It is not only that it is not covering “good stuff”, but that the coverage they do is so skewed. The silver lining is that more and more people - especially the young, aren’t paying attention in the same way anymore.

Social media is also very corrupted though - whether it is Cambridge Analytica type-stuff going on in the background ... Here Jill mentions a book that came out recently called Antisocial Media. It is essentially an exposé on social media and how it is itself corporatized, and very much built on a predatory-sales model wherein things that are sensational get lots of eyeballs and are inherently favored by social media’s models, by Facebook, and so on. I’ll give you one example. The New York Times (I think) – Jill says, had a story on Jamal Khashoggi this last week. He was harassed systematically on social media - probably by (whichever parts of) the monarchy. The campaign against him was administered by Saudis and assisted by U.S. Corporations including McKinsey (& Company) - Financial Services (consulting). Yet Saudi Arabia itself is a sponsor of the Atlantic Council (a think-tank for NATO) which has partnered with Facebook in order to censor so-called “Fake news” … There are much more nefarious forces at work than is widely understood. John feels that with regard to social media, there is censorship going on but that people have some measure of choice and you are not dealing with a one-way pipeline of spun narrative coming out of a single network. Yes that’s true – Jill agrees. A study - John continues, which just came out shows that young people are better at coping with facts, logic and information from social media than older people who still get information from network television - which is more inaccurate. That is a hopeful sign. My dad will see something on Facebook that he doesn’t understand, but (that’s maybe because) he is also listening to spun narrative.

So – John says, do you mean that we have to put these candidates in power first in order to be able to change all this and to bring back the Fairness Doctrine and rewrite the Telecom Act? Yes – Jill says, and it is not like Facebook, Twitter and social media have to remain a No-Man’s-Land. Ro Khanna has been talking about an internet bill of rights. We have to protect privacy, but we also should be protecting people from outright harassment and bullying, and protecting their freedom of speech. It’s not an easy balance and it requires people. Algorithms won’t do. It should not be done by corporations. Social media should be like the telephone - a public utility, subject to public protections and protections of our Constitutional rights. This isn’t rocket science and again it comes down to democracy. We don’t need representatives of corporations who are on the take from the corporate sponsors that got them elected and who are basically doing payback. Of course we need to get money out of politics. What makes me hopeful is that there is an inevitable mobilization going on right now. Jill refers to the 100 million people who chose to sit out the last election …

Slide: Showing various newspaper headlines attacking Jill Stein.

(Yola the dog) looks in and the smiles become comments about real news (versus staged – which this is not). We aren’t paying you a whole load of money, and I’m not a six-figured anchor paid to lie. This is real – John says, and we are trying to fix our democracy and that is what makes this right. No worries! Yes - Jill continues, let’s get the corporate poison out of our media, our schools, our healthcare … It’s like a poison that has permeated society and corporations have been protected with “rights” that trump our human rights and our Constitutional rights. The largest plurality of voters is not buying it anymore, so those who want to blame and shame non-voters or third-party voters for rejecting a corrupt and brutal political system, they’ve got it wrong.

The solution - Jill says, isn’t less but more democracy, along with ranked-choice voting. There are other forms of the latter, take your pick. John agrees. We should have a lot of experiments going on in other forms of voting – Jill says. Maine led the way with a referendum – which was overwhelmingly passed. The legislators tried to stop it, and the people passed it again in order to implement it and they had one of the biggest historic turnouts in the last election. It encourages collegial campaigning and de-emphasizes negative campaigning because you are trying to get second-choice votes from fellow candidates. It also liberates our values. How do you have a democracy if you are only voting against what you hate the most? It never provides guidance. It never gives a moral compass. We never get close to a just, sustainable or peaceful world that way. Polls show 60% of U.S. voters and 70% of Millennials calling for a new independent political party. We mustn’t allow ourselves to be intimidated into voting against our values. It’s only our values that will save us. Here too John agrees. We are starting to see that now – he says, with a lot of Progressive wins. It gives him hope, although he is conscious that time is limited. He is also aware that it is late for Jill and invites her to come back another time. She says she will do so and has some final thoughts she’d like to leave us with. Forget the lesser evil and fight for the greater good like our lives depend on it, because they do – she tells us. We have the power when we stand up with the courage of our convictions and we connect across issues. The number of young people who have been locked into predatory debt (John raises his hand) is going on 45 million! That’s almost enough to win an election right there based on bailing them out. Add immigrants who care about their relations and friends who are threatened with deportations - that’s about 25 million and people who need healthcare as a human right … tens of millions more. You can vote strategically if you need to, but in my view I could not bring myself to vote for a predator. If we can reach out, hold hands and bring our fellow brothers and sisters into this political process - those who are on the front lines, then that’s the liberation for us all.

John sees that Donald Trump’s election has unified the three of them (Jill, John and Laura) plus Bernie around issues, rather than party. We kind of did America a good thing in the long term, I think – he says.

By the way, Green and Independent voters – Jill says, would not have voted for Donald Trump. We know that from exit polls. What made the difference were voters who were denied the right to vote; voter ID laws; the stripping of voter rolls and the censorship of the political dialogue which made people think they had to pick between the two most disliked and untrusted candidates in our history. If we had gotten into the debates it would have been a different ball game.It was spoiled by Big-money and by CBS giving all that airtime to Donald Trump. John reminds Jill that she doesn’t have to defend that position here. We voted for you – he says!

Slide: John again shows the slide with some of the headlines referring to Jill in 2016. Markus prepared it. One reads “Do you still feel good about that Jill Stein protest vote?” Yes I do - he says, and it wasn’t a protest vote. It was just my vote! It has been awesome - he says. I look forward to talking to you again. And it has been great talking to you John and Laura - Jill replies. John gives thanks all around, including to those who donated (in YouTube chat). I really appreciate it. That’s what it takes to keep the lights on here, just like it does when you donate to the Green Party to help them put money into the down-ballot candidates, and I suggest you do that – he says. We need to help everybody.

Jill has been working on this for a lot longer than every Berner – John says. I‘d like to say to every Progressive Democrat, that there is very little difference between you and the Green Party and you really should vote for the person that’s best to win the race, not the (letter) D. Thank you so much Dr. Jill Stein.

Jill is busy so I didn’t ask her to pick a song, but she did better … We have a song – which aged well I believe. It apparently caught a lot of crap in the past. It is from Somebody’s Sister (Jill Stein and Ken Selcer – a great musician) singing American Dream in 1995. Check out the lyrics …

… Times are changin’It ain’t a jokeHey, revolutionTake back your vote…

It is a nice song and a lovely voice that you have Dr. Jill Stein. It did indeed age well!

​Sonia Aery is the Democratic candidate for California State Assembly – District 3. She was interviewed by #WeThePeople on August 20th, 2018. She is up against James Gallagher (R) in the General election. He is loaded. She is progressive and backed by the California Democratic Party proper … we wondered whether they looked at her website closely enough – John says! She comes across as a friendly person. Laura tells people how to engage and adds that some people from Sonia’s campaign are in chat to help out too.

Sonia is the daughter of Indian immigrants who worked hard to see that she and her brother had a better life, than they would have otherwise had in India. She is a small business owner with an undergraduate degree in Community and Regional Development(s) and a graduate degree in City and Regional Planning. She talks to people daily about their struggles and gets to help them through that. So - says John, you’ll do that better than James Gallagher, who seems to be doing what he does for a lot of Corporations. We’ll look at his money trail later. She is running for office because she feels the need to give back and help others. Yes, it’s a huge endeavor given the Incumbent – she says!

I believe that people should be paid living wages, and have access to free healthcare regardless of their income. We have to take care of our local natural resources to make sure we have a safer, healthier, cleaner community for future generations. We’ve not had a voice in Sacramento (in the North State) for a long time, as we have been represented by a Republican. 43% of the families in my district are making less than $20,000 annually. My opponent has over $673,000 in his campaign account (08/20/18) and is continuing to have fundraisers. A theme of my campaign is that everything impacts everything else. What really gets me riled up is living wages. That 43% of families (are earning so little) up here - while costs are increasing, really is shameful! As for Single-Payer healthcare … we are already paying for it (one way or the other). Everything is indeed tied together – comments John. Climate change though we are limited time-wise on … the death of the human species is probably a priority we need to address. Sonia agrees.

Progressives need to talk more to the general public (rather than preaching to the choir) about the climate crisis – she says. With all of our natural resources up here in the North State especially, we need brave leadership who understand that these multiple climate disasters that we have been experiencing from the fires to the flooding, to the horrible dam crisis last year, are a serious threat to our way of life, to our environment and to our economy. Nearly 200,000 people had about an hour to evacuate (dam crisis) and the financial impact was devastating. In 2005 it would have cost about a hundred million dollars to fully repair both the main spillway and the emergency one. This past year, it cost almost $5 million a day just in emergency repairs. So now it is going to cost close to 2 billion dollars to get it to normal safe levels! Do you think that part of being a responsible Representative (and taking care of citizens) in your State is looking at infrastructure - with climate change in mind, and seeing where things are headed – John asks? Absolutely – Sonia replies. Infrastructure is important to public safety and to boosting our economy. Investments there are essential. The climate crisis that we are living through is also a threat to national security. James disagrees though – says John. He says that California is already a leader on climate change – at great cost to jobs and the economy. He argues that other States need to catch up before California pushes on with anything else. Since about 2010 the U.S. Forest Service up here has been defunded by the Republican-led Congress - Sonia mentions in reply. Looking at your site – John continues, you seem to feel (contrary to your opponent) that a lot more jobs and opportunities can be created through a green energy initiative. Yes – Sonia responds. There are great jobs in the solar industry that we should capitalize on and up here we can definitely lead on that. She refers to the recently passed law that says that every home in California must have solar panels in the near future. But didn’t the current administration just drop the nice subsidies and benefits to the solar industry – John asks? Yes – she replies, which is why it is so important to flip the house this year. John agrees. This – Sonia continues, is something we need bi-partisan support on. There are a few very brave Republican leaders who are championing the issue and trying to explain to their fellow Republicans that it is for real and that the energy - the heat that we are trapping is the energy equivalent of 450,000 Hiroshima-size atomic bombs going off in the atmosphere every day!! In very simple terms if you heat the earth you will melt the ice, and you will swamp the cities and destroy agriculture. MSM has been denying this and that hasn’t helped us to inform the electorate - John says. We were saying in the green room that until rich folk are directly affected by climate (change) we are not going to see change. It seems as though that is starting to be the case. It’s impacting the economy – Sonia says.

How come you are supported by the California Democratic Party, yet you support a Single-Payer Medicare for All system - John asks? I don’t think they checked my website - Sonia says. I was the only Democrat in the race, so I had the good fortune (cough) of getting their endorsement. James is claiming Single-Payer will cost too much, but even the Koch brothers’ funded study says otherwise. Sonia is embarrassed that the wealthiest nation in the world can’t provide healthcare for all its citizens. John speaks of India. They are going to implement some kind of healthcare plan … for the poorest 500 million people - Sonia adds. John wonders if Sonia and parents are considering going back. She laughs and acknowledges that the country has changed a lot since they left. Please stay though - says John. We need women of color in office. It does seem – he says, that climate change has affected India an awful lot more and that they are making changes a lot faster. Yes – Sonia replies and goes into more detail on the subject. Healthcare (in California) - this is getting stuck at the top with Rendon, but that’s something you can help with – John says. Sonia tells us that California is a 2/3 Democratic State – and that the North State with Republican leadership hasn’t had its voice heard in a while because the two-party system is such that apparently now neither side listens to anyone who disagrees with “them” (anymore). As a Democratic Assemblywoman from here I’ll be more listened to – she says.

John shows a slide with information taken from Sonia’s website. There is mention of recycling. There is also mention of expanding broadband efficiency in the interests of the education, business and personal management needs of all Californians. Sonia discusses investing in education … tuition-free college education, community-college education, and career-technical education for anyone who wants it. We need to be competitive. John teases – but how will we pay for it? We just will John - she replies, with a grin. My friend in Holland pays 51% tax – she continues. Socialist – John fires back! Yes - she laughs ... and she gets a free education, free healthcare and decent roads and stuff like that. Laura laughs at the mention of all that “free stuff”.

They move on to the subject of affordable housing. California has some serious issues here - John says. Sonia used to work in this area. Her job was to help people through financial education. One of main programs up here is called CHIP (Community Housing Program) and it’s incredible. Basically this neighborhood gets together, and builds their houses together. Nobody can move in until all the houses are complete. It takes 6 months to a year to build each neighborhood. During that time Sonia provided financial education, on how home ownership works - for example. The first time she did that was right after the 2008 financial crisis. She learned a lot at that point about the devastating effects of deregulation particularly in the financial industry. We are dangerously close to those levels of deregulation again - she says. This will slowly start to impact our home ownership rates in California in particular. During the 2008 financial crisis there was a mass exodus of workers from the building trades and they never came back. To solve this housing crisis that we have here, there are a few things we need to do. Short term, we have to implement rent-control. (Prop 10 in CA). Our medium-term strategy would be to speak with local governments about reducing regulations on a local level, such as the obligation to only build single-family homes. No – she says! We don’t have the time nor the space for that. We need to invest in a greater diversity of housing options. Long term we need (career technical education) to get people back into the building trades. When you increase the supply of employees, you help to decrease the costs of all these projects. We can hopefully incentivize developers to start building affordable homes and make them not as difficult to build. We have ridiculous vacancy rates in Butte County (1%). Laura points out that in San Francisco large numbers of empty buildings are kept for investment purposes etc. Where Sonia is though, the problem is more that there are not enough homes. We would need - she says, 1200 units just to meet the demand - yesterday. They talk about the affordable aspect of all of this. According to the federal government – Sonia tells us, affordable means no more than 30% of your income, which - John says, brings us back to a living wage.

Elena in YouTube chat asks what people are most concerned about in Sonia’s district. Healthcare – she replies. It’s the same as elsewhere in the country. How do you speak to Republicans in the district about the subject – John asks? I just bring it back to human dignity – Sonia answers. Are we going to let people die because they didn’t have the extra $50 they needed for their insulin medication? One in 3 GoFundMe accounts is specifically for medical bills! You realize – says John, we just created Single-Payer on our own? Exactly - says Sonia. Affordable housing is the number 2 issue.

La Donna (Lokey) in YouTube chat says that Gallagher voted against prohibiting conversion therapy. Where do you stand on this? Sonia says that this is a practice of torture. It is meant to try to convince people in the LGBTQ community that they can be changed. Here Sonia adds that she is gay. The proposal had been to label the sale of conversion therapy as a fraudulent business practice – which it absolutely is.

John shows a slide with some of Gallagher’s votes over the last year. He voted Nay on so much. Sad – Sonia says.

Someone in YouTube chat asks what Sonia’s pathway to victory is. The Assembly District has a slight lean for Republicans, but not enough to win just by partisan voting. 20% decline to state or are No Party Preference. Those are the people that we are really targeting and we will be talking to them about the issues.

John shows another slide … Gallagher won 2/3 to 1/3 against a Democrat in 2016.

I also have a personal mission to turn out new voters – Sonia says. Lots of young people have lost all faith in our election process - particularly after 2016, and I can’t blame them. We want to show them that the Presidential election is probably the last thing that will impact them. These local and State elections will have a significant impact on their lives. We want them to know that they can really make a difference when they actually come out and vote. Well said - says John! Sonia feels that there has been tremendous energy around changing things at all levels of government, around first-time candidates too, and she points out most especially that people don’t want business as usual. They do not want corporate money in politics - which is why I pledged to run a completely corporate-free campaign. People are now seeing that it’s not Republican versus Democrat, but the Money Party versus the People Party.

Slide: John shows information from the Map-the-Money Project he is busy with. Individual contributions make up most of Sonia’s funding so far. It is all in-State. He then shows us the funding information for Gallagher. There is a massive chunk of the pie which is made up of un-coded people (where the category of donor is unknown or not yet assigned. In this case – that is because they are very rich and powerful). His top industries are all corporate. His top contributors are Alcohol, AT&T, Tobacco … They are still fundraising, which John suggests means that Gallagher is afraid. Sonia is endorsed by Planned Parenthood, Butte County Democratic Party, the California Democratic Party, (dual endorsement) from the California Labor Federation and they are working on more (08/20/2018). She reminds people that as she is corporate–free, she does need some help from people to get her into Office.

Fluffy Bunny in YouTube chat wants to know whether if you don’t win this time around, you will run again. It’s hard to say - Sonia replies. I’m not a career politician. It’s hard to say where I will be in 2 years. Laura and YouTube chat remind Sonia that no matter what happens there are no losing progressive campaigns … and that her starting momentum in 2020 could be a whole different ball game.

John and Laura thank Sonia for running and repeat that they have learned that actually running for office is the most difficult thing to do. Sonia is also still running a business. She is an insurance agent. They talk about the difficulties involved in the job - given climate change. Sonia’s uncle lost his home to the fires last year. One of the things she learned along the way was that if a fire crew approaches two houses - one being clear of brush and the other not, they will first try to save the one that is clear, because there is a higher chance of saving it. She tries to advise people about this – given obviously that she is insuring them.

Sonia’s song pick is The Best of Me by The Sounds. She tells us that it is a balm for her soul these days.

The links are in the video description – to donate and volunteer. Good luck on November 6th, 2018 Sonia Aery!

​Randy Bryce on Unions; Campaign funding; Healthcare; the Military budget; Cannabis; Guns; Public funding of elections and The Fairness Doctrine.

​Randy Bryce was interviewed by #WeThePeople on 6/28/2017. Paul Ryan has since decided to retire from politics and Randy beat Cathy Myers in the Primary. He is now the Democratic candidate in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. The other candidates left in the race are Bryan Steil - the Republican and Ken Yorgan - the Independent.

Randy is a US Army Veteran, cancer survivor, union iron-worker and - John tells us, a Berniecrat. He has both a great ad - which brought a lot of attention his way, and a tagline on his website: “I decided to run for office because not everyone is seated at the table, and it’s time to make a bigger table.” His twitter handle is IronStache and his mustache – John says, has risen to fame. Randy smiles and agrees that it has. They joke about memes. John introduces Laura.

Randy has been an activist since 2 days after the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 was announced. He supports unions and not “Right-to-work”. Bernie Sanders showed up at that time, to talk about collective bargaining rights – which were under attack. Randy hadn’t heard of him before that, but thought Bernie was fantastic. When the latter ran for President, he stood out as far as Randy was concerned. This was somebody who did things he himself did, such as standing on picket lines … He liked the whole of Bernie’s message and went on to become a surrogate for him. John shares that Bernie woke him up. It was May 2015. Bernie Sanders announced his candidacy and was promptly ignored by MSM. So John got to thinking that if this guy had been doing this for 30 years, then he (John) could (at least) do something now!

Randy ran twice before (for State Assembly and State Senate). Both experiences taught him a lot. This time the media has been mostly complimentary, except for the Washington Post / Associated Press. “This union worker wants Paul Ryan’s job. He’s got a great ad but a losing record.” John doesn’t agree. It shows Randy is a fighter he reckons. Apparently - Randy says, if you type Paul Ryan’s name into Google, my name comes up. That’s beautiful – laughs John. People in YouTube chat are pointing out that the Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos – who is very NOT for unions.

(Hot Spot News) asks whether Mr Bryce is swearing off corporate money à la Bernie Sanders. Randy says he is swearing off the money from Wall Street. I’m not going to turn down money from causes that I support, but I’m not going to take from people who are destroying things and making our life uninhabitable. We do stuff with PNC (Personal Banking) or the Bank of Labor, that support unions. Once elected – Randy says, his goal would be public financing of campaigns, but that it would be foolish to handcuff himself at this stage and to say that he is not going to take any money from any company if he is going after someone like Paul Ryan. That’s a practical response - replies John.

Other questions Laura? Yes – she says. (Ashley) wants to know what Randy’s impressions are of the other Democratic candidates in the race (primary). Randy indicates that he is focused on going after Paul Ryan. I have nothing negative to say about either of them. It’s great that others also want to get rid of him. Randy is counting on people knowing where he has been and what he has done since 2011. He has strong community roots. You’re ‘seasoned’ - says John. How important - John continues, is money in this campaign? Really important – Randy responds, but people have been very generous from the get-go. The average contribution is around $28 and so far we have 10,000 donors (6/28/2017). It will be a people-powered campaign.

John shows a video (MSM) – where Randy speaks of his family and his opinion that it is a basic right that everyone should have insurance and be able to go see a doctor when they need to, in order to be healthy and to live a fulfilling life. John comments that healthcare has to be the most primary issue for everyone, and asks why there is a division about this in the Democratic Party. Good question – says Randy. It’s all about how to cover everybody. Some think it’s safe to try to patch up Obamacare. There are protections that need to be in place until we get to a Single Payer healthcare system. It is a big thing to take on, but look at U.S. history. Every country we had a military conflict with, has some kind of universal healthcare. If it’s good enough for them, then why is it not for us? He then refers to the amount of money that the U.S. spends on bombs to blow things up and then on sending no-bid contractors in to fix things. It’s crazy – he says.

You’re a veteran Randy – John states. If elected will you take a stand on the military budget and the Military Industrial Complex? Absolutely - answers Randy, speaking of how much more the U.S. spends military budget wise than other countries. Our military is unbelievably strong – he says. He doesn’t believe that all countries want to be on friendly terms with the U.S. and does feel that the U.S. has every right to defend itself in a quite aggressive manner if need be. However it isn’t right he reckons, when kids are hungry in the U.S. and yet there is enough money to do the research on a new bomb to kill kids in other countries. John remembers this same conversation in the 1980s. Randy tells us that it was an eye-opening experience working with homeless vets shortly after getting out of the army. If you want to spend all this money sending us to war – he says, then take care of us properly when we return!

John continues – What about cannabis - which is an issue close to my heart? I have epilepsy. Randy tells him that he would sign anything that would decriminalize it right away. It is not more harmful than alcohol. I see opioid addiction as a (real) issue. Treat people, don’t jail them. It’s hard to re-assimilate them into society afterwards too. At this point John wonders whether Randy is familiar with (the concept of) restorative justice? I can’t say that I know specifics on it – Randy replies. John offers to get him connected with the Longmont (Community) Justice (Partnership), which he explains is basically community-based holistic justice. They bring all parties together to hash out the problem and find a solution so that the individual (at fault) can be reintegrated into society. Randy really thinks that that’s a great idea. He is a proponent of “ban the box”. For us in the building trade - he says, it’s about where do you want to go, not where have you been. He gives details and John comments that listening to Randy’s description of the training that the union provides makes him wish there was that that kind of intense training for police officers!

They talk about gun control. John says that he doesn’t own a gun, but doesn’t have a problem with people owning them. Randy reckons that the gun-show loophole has to be closed. You need to make sure that the people buying them are responsible. Also, look at the fact that it is always guys (not women) shooting things up. Randy’s dad is a retired cop - a nice one … training must be included too – he says. There are too many stories of unarmed people getting shot. I respect cops - Randy continues, but not cops who stand up for cops who shouldn’t be on the force. John tells him that around the world cops have a relationship with the communities they serve. That is something that Randy can relate to and he quotes an example to us, where the result was that the crime rate went down dramatically. So would you support legislation – John asks, saying that we need to put some money into an effort for community policing, training and de-escalating the violence? Absolutely – Randy replies.

Laura has questions in YouTube chat about fracking and climate change, and in general asking what Randy’s position on all of this is. He tells us that he sees that there is a lot of opportunity for jobs rebuilding infrastructure and that being as dependent on fossil fuels is problematic, as is a lack of renewable resources. Wisconsin banned “noisy” wind turbines. Solar is around – he says, but it’s not a big thing.

Randy then tells a story about Joy Reid and MSM and John laughs with him, before adding though that MSM have an opportunity to regain integrity with the people here. Randy mentions The Fairness Doctrine and the 1996 Telecommunications Act. He says he worked with Sue Wilson from the Media Action Center (CA), which is a fantastic resource for learning about this subject. Laura takes note. Would you - if elected, work to revise the laws now governing our news stations – John asks? Randy replies that - as previously said, he liked the Fairness Doctrine when it was in place and he also wants public funding of elections. There is so much wrong (gerrymandering, dialing for dollars…) with (the) people who are chosen to represent us now! He adds that he would also like to see union money gone.

To conclude, Randy tells everyone that his video says it all. He is successful because it is a basic message. People are looking for someone they can trust, looking to have a voice (a bigger table), to participate (in) life. I’m just a working guy who wants to stand up for working people.

John thanks Randy for his honesty and for speaking from the heart. Randy has chosen The Worker’s Song by Dropkick Murphys as an outro. He says that the group is like-minded politically and one of them even donated to his campaign – which made his day!

The links are in the video description. Good luck on November 6th, 2018 Randy Bryce!

​Tim Canova was interviewed by #WeThePeople on November 29th, 2017. He is running in the 23rd Congressional District of Florida. At the time of this interview Tim was running as a Democrat (in the primaries), however he decided (for very good reason) that he would be better off running as an Independent, and made that change accordingly. He is up against Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), Joe Kaufman (R) and Don Endriss (another Independent).

Tim is (as his ad says) a professor of Law and Public Finance. In 2015 he found himself in south Florida working with the Citizens’ Trade Campaign which was lobbying the entire Florida Congressional Delegation against the TPP. Earlier in 2010, he started to work with a number of congressional staffers on the legislation that would become the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. I saw Bernie Sanders putting it all on the line and calling for others to step up – he says, so I thought if he could, then I could - in my little corner of the world.

Tim starts to talk about The Sabal Trail pipeline that is being built. They want to frack – he says, before explaining why Florida is the last State in the country that should be fracking. There will be problems with clean water if they pollute the fragile aquifer that Florida is dependent on. Rising sea levels threaten homes and businesses. We could end up with an internal refugee crisis in this country. We have to have - he says, a progressive movement that changes the political system. The challenge right now is for those of us who want a more ethical politics - politics with integrity, politics where politicians are not bought and paid for by monied interests. We have to keep waking folks up. We have to organize around the issues and stay engaged politically if we are going to bring about positive change in this country. They talk about the last few days rain and Hurricane Irma earlier in the year (2017). Tim had been in a mandatory evacuation zone. They talk of the effects of climate change and describe the sheer size and force of Irma. There is a new “normal” with rising sea levels and warmer oceans which are creating hotter, bigger storms. Right now in the U.S. there are a lot of different kinds of environmental and ecological hazards to be dealt with. Out west there are enormous fires which are now burning down about 4 million acres per year in our country – Tim says. We don’t have winter much anymore – John adds, it’s year-round fire season and Florida is getting (the worst of the effects of climate change). What do the constituents in your district think of climate change Tim? They are so far ahead of the politicians on this and many issues – Tim replies. Last year there were a couple of big State-wide referendums and very powerful interests threw tens of millions of dollars into campaigns against these referendums, but the referendums still passed by a super majority of votes. A solar power initiative passed, medical marijuana also … You don’t have to be a climate scientist to know in your gut that things are changing. So people are waking up to the problem, but there are big vested corporate interests standing in the way of a lot of solutions and not just on climate issues. And the only way forward – John says, is to get rid of the politicians who are bowing to the corporate money. Tim agrees.

He talks about his amazing run in 2016 against the head of the DNC (Debbie Wasserman Schultz) and all the candidates running against corporate candidates this time around. Based on what I’m reading things are going well for you – John says. Tim has a progressive movement behind him and there is exciting information about the democratic platform in Florida – he tells us. However Tim is wary of assuming anything at this stage of the race. About a month ago (11/29/2017) the Florida Democratic Party passed the most progressive plank of resolutions in the party’s history. They voted against fracking; against the Sabal Trail Pipeline – which will be pumping at capacity a billion cubic feet of fracked gas a day through sinkhole country; for the restoration of voting rights – to overturn the felony disenfranchisement that affects over a million Floridians; for Healthcare for All in principle and for campaign finance reform. All of this passed overwhelmingly, and yet the party is still controlled in many ways by the vendors, consultants and lobbyists that don’t want to let go. “Politicians don’t see the light until they feel the heat” Tim says, so we have to start beating them in these primaries. After the 2016 election, he never really stopped working. They formed a group called Progress for All – that allowed them to continue to raise small donations and have an office with several field staff. They became citizen lobbyists and they lobbied very heavily on the issues. They fought a lot of fights and people in Florida noticed.

John says he is excited about this election. He thinks the progressive movement is building an army and is ready for 2018. Tim agrees and points to Florida. He does believe that the center of gravity in the Democratic Party has moved in a progressive direction. (Imagine) if we could send an army of Progressive Democrats critical of concentrated corporate power as allies to help Bernie Sanders and other Progressives in the House and Senate!

Laura has had a few questions related to hurricane relief in chat. In Florida, they are still waiting for federal aid - Tim tells us. He speaks of price gouging (over clearing debris from the sides of the roads). He had thought it might be a good time for a Civilian Conservation Corps and for organizing volunteers. The CCC was one of the first of FDR’s New Deal programs to be passed – he tells us. It immediately put almost ¼ of a million young men to work in the National Forests, National Parks … clearing underbrush, cutting fire lines, putting out small fires before they became bigger ones and I think that something like 80% of the pay they were receiving had to be sent home to their families - who were often in cities 1000 or 2000 miles away. So it was really an income support program, a jobs program and a training program. Overall around 3 million Americans passed through the CCC. Tim thinks it would be great in our day to tie the (2 or 3 years in the) CCC to tuition free education and a living stipend for example. That’s the deal my dad got for serving in WW2. That whole “Greatest Generation” got the benefits of the GI Bill after WW2. And I would love to see a Sea Conservation Corps (internal waterways in the U.S. and also the ocean). He wonders when all the plastic (in the oceans) will adversely affect sea-life and then human life … because it is part of the food chain. Great answer - says John. A corporate dominated Congress is not interested in this idea, but they spend an average of 30 hours a week in call centers - dialing wealthy people for dollars.

Tim mentions at this point the painfully slow clean-up and reconstruction jobs going on in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. We have a large number of Puerto Rican residents who live in my district. Puerto Rico’s population figures started experiencing a very sharp drop about 3 years ago - related to the financial crisis (and well before hurricane Maria). He speaks of vulture funds and interest on debt. It needs debt forgiveness for several years now. Tim had talked to one of Bernie Sanders’ Senate staffers about using the Federal Reserve to try to reorganize Puerto Rican debt. He refers back to the 1930s and 1940s and how the Federal Reserve and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation did an awful lot to help State and local governments and localities work out their debt problems and avoid austerity, build infrastructure and even support school teachers’ salaries. Bernie just introduced a major bill with a lot of Senate backing, a sort of Marshall Plan for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin islands and much of the Caribbean – Tim reminds us. I’m all for that – he says.

John speaks about how the U.S. government is functioning completely against the interests of its citizens right now. Tim believes it is worse at present, but that the government has been doing this for a while. Democrats need an alternative agenda. It is not enough to talk about Russian conspiracies and investigations of HRC and rehashing 2016. Tim thinks the unemployment rate is so low because people are afraid to leave their crappy jobs because they’ll be really screwed if they do. It masks a very sick jobs market along with declining and stagnant incomes. He knows lots of people have given up on the Democratic Party being the vehicle for progressive change, but he is still trying to believe (11/29/2017) that it’s possible to push the party in a very progressive New Deal direction. John says this is a topic which is often discussed on the show, and he thinks that the Bernie Sanders’ lesson was if you want a good Democratic Party then make it. The party itself is just a structure with resources. Kick out the people that suck and bring in the ones that don’t. Tim agrees and says that whether people want to work within or outside of the Democratic Party, it will take a vast movement of people being and staying awake and waking other folks up. It requires an informed active citizenry. They discuss whether things would have been better under HRC (John doesn’t think so) ... either way Tim says, there were going to be major problems. Donald Trump scares people by his talk and actions. The Democrats on immigration issues would have been clearly better – he says, but when you look back over the last 8 years you see a lot of things that occurred under a Democratic administration that are troubling … fracking; regime change in Libya and Ukraine … Tim thinks though that a lot of people in the party are ready to turn the page from the Clintons and other party leaders and start looking for fresh faces and ideas for the party. The old ways haven’t worked. We have a very weak Democratic party at this point. John sees Donald Trump as a catalyst for change … Tim agrees that both Democratic and Republican Parties are in crisis mode.

Robert in YouTube chat has a question. With the release of the Paradise papers and the Panama papers, could we make laws to prevent companies sending their money offshore, instead of paying their taxes for using our infrastructure? Tim replies that he thinks that is necessary. He has been writing about this since the 1990s. He talks of what is happening right now and goes on to say that if the U.S. puts even a fraction of the diplomatic energy - that was put into trade agreements, into closing down these types of offshore tax havens and working with other trading partners to do the same, the U.S. will be doing what is required. You have a globalization that serves the interests of financial capital, Wall Street and the CEOs - but no one else’s. Tim tells us that from 1940 to 1980 (the Golden years of the middle class in the U.S. and capitalism) the bottom 90% of households got about 70% of the income gains. Since the financial crisis the bottom 90% of households have gotten 0% of the income gains, and the top 1% of households has gotten 90% of the income gains! This is not sustainable in any way, economically or politically. This looks so much more like an oligarchy, a plutocracy - and not a democracy. This political crisis that we are in, I think is an existential crisis for our species - Tim says. They agree that it’s global. Tim talks about all the young people in the U.S. graduating without good job prospects, having to take part-time jobs without benefits and overseas lots of young men (in similar situations) are fodder for mercenary armies. We need jobs’ programs to help these underemployed human beings around the world, to give them hope and meaning and to do something productive. Leave the world a better place for the next generation. That would be the decent thing to do - says John, pleased with the conversation and telling Tim he’s learning a lot - but then Tim is a law professor. This is great – he says. Tim laughs.

Froz in YouTube chat refers to Dickinson Texas and hurricane relief victims who had to sign non anti-Israeli agreements to get their funding. She says that there are apparently 23 States that require that type of thing when signing contracts with the government. Is Florida one of them? I had not heard of that - says Tim. My district is an interesting district because it has had the highest number of Holocaust survivors of any district in the country. His family is hybrid, as his step-dad is Jewish. He has volunteered on a kibbutz in Israel for several months of his life and has been back to that kibbutz several times. So it’s not surprising – he says, that I believe in a Jewish state called Israel and sometimes my supporters chafe at hearing that. I don’t think it is inconsistent to support Israel and to also support a Palestinian State. I’ve been for a two-State solution for my whole life. I still see that as the answer, but I think it has got to be as part of a regional peace that addresses the conflict that continues to go on between Saudi Arabia, Iran and their proxies in the region. I am not aware of the legislation or the contractual requirements you mention. I am aware of legislation that would criminalize the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Personally, I am not for boycotting Israel. I think it would be counter-productive. That might not please folks out there, but I’m not for criminalizing the BDS movement either. That’s a fair and honest answer - John says. For his part, John is for a human beings solution. To him - no offense he says, Israel is just a good weapons customer which is why we seem to be protecting them. They buy a lot of our weapons and use a lot of them to murder people and then say “Wait we are Israel!” and I think “Come on guys!” Laura comments that the U.S does give them a lot of money. We need regional and even global arms control agreements – Tim replies, not just for weapons of mass destruction but for conventional arms too. The global arms industry is now so powerful, and is making a fortune arming every side of every war – it seems. He talks of trying to get the major arms producing countries in the world (of which there are about a dozen) to sit down and come up with plans to convert their arms industries to civilian use. Perhaps – he suggests, we could have another big space program that would help buy off the weapons industry to get them on board to still make big profits but at least not by killing people on Earth. Tim refers to “we” having forgotten our common humanity, and no longer seeing the damage that we are doing (by remote control), and of how Israelis and Palestinians all deserve certain basic rights and freedoms, and have a right to live in peace together. John says - by “we” you mean the 1%. The general world population knows this. The kibbutz I worked on was a Peace Now kibbutz, a left-wing pro-peace one (then) – Tim says. I hope as someone who supports the Israeli State and a Palestinian one, that I can play a constructive role in the future. I do have my critics, but there is one thing that they often ignore – he says … that I have opposed every regime-change war going back years now. I have come out in support of Tulsi Gabbard’s bill to stop arming terrorists. One of the things that Donald Trump did do was pull the CIA out of a covert war in Syria. I think that should be applauded. They agree on that and that there is not much to applaud in this administration.

John shows two slides. The first just as an example of decades of lack of education.

Slide: A question from Elon Musk about why there is no Flat Mars Society … There is so much wrong there – John says.

Slide: Extracts from comments by Tim on healthcare and education (and in particular on mold and mildew in the schools in south Florida).

This ties also to climate change because it is not going to get any better. Hundreds have come down sick, some seriously. It is shameful and makes one wonder - Tim says, if we have an educational policy that is designed to make the public schools fail and that the whole point of it is to privatize them and have charter schools. These are problems that can be solved with money. The Presidential Kennedy vs Nixon debate in 1960 – he says, shows Kennedy wanted not just bricks and mortar and school construction, but that local school teachers’ salaries be subsidized by the Federal government too. Nixon agreed on the construction part … look where we are now. There is (still) no subsidizing of school teachers’ salaries, but now the federal government is trying to dictate curriculums that are terrible, that just forced a very uncreative teaching model on students to prepare them for some standardized exam. To prepare them for war – John says, and Tim replies - yes, perhaps! Teachers are so low-paid all over the country. Here in Broward County we have a low retention rate of public school teachers. They are paid so little. Their teaching schedules are so demanding. They are understaffed. It’s a prescription for failure. And the government just took away a teacher’s ability to write off (the costs) when they buy supplies for the children – John says. So ridiculously greedy!

What infuriates Tim is that the Defense Authorization Act that 127 Democrats - including Debbie Wasserman Schultz, voted for recently (11/29/2017) was a 700 billion dollar authorization. It was a hundred billion dollars more than the Trump Administration even asked for! That 100 billion dollars would have paid for tuition-free higher education and Medicare for All – he says!

Will you address and attack the Military Industrial Complex, and cut it down to size – John asks? It needs to be dealt with – replies Tim, but by the same token there have been a number of accidents in the Pacific Fleet. They don’t even have enough spare parts in the jets that are landing on carriers!! Where is the money going to? It’s going to big weapons systems that are very redundant but are very expensive. And you have to wonder if our foreign policy is being dictated by the business model. If the arms manufacturers are making a fortune selling drones, well how nice if we continue to fire drones in 7 countries. It means that there is going to be a constant demand for these drones. Congress, instead of 30 hours of call-time a week should be conducting hearings on how effective the drone warfare is. Is it creating more enemies than it is actually killing? It would seem to be so. John adds that we appear to be killing loads of civilians with them and Tim speaks of allies on the ground calling in with coordinates of where a drone strike should be directed, and later it turns out to have been a wedding or a funeral and the U.S. have been caught up in some tribal civil war. How can you win a war that way – he asks?

Do you think – John says, that we are as close as the media wants to make us believe, to a nuclear war with North Korea, or is this all bluffing? Tim thinks it is a real problem. Here he shares his knowledge of foreign policy (and history). 90% of North Korea’s exports and imports are to and from China. Free trade within the EU might make some sense, but when it is between a wealthy country and a very struggling poor country like Mexico, all it does is open up opportunities for corporate exploitation on both sides of the border. China shouldn’t have been allowed into the World Trade Organization, before there was at the very least some reform in North Korea. John adds that during the 2000 election, Al Gore spoke out one day against letting China into the WTO. Within about 24 hours he backtracked. Having China in the WTO was always part of the agenda of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – Tim says. It was a way to allow big corporations to outsource labor to countries … and China was bottom of the barrel – very low labor costs. It helps them bust American unions. They don’t have to comply with environmental regulations. It has helped create a stronger middle class there, but there are still lots of folks living in poverty. Tim talks about all sorts of possible scenarios regarding nuclear weapons and North Korea. He says that China has its own agenda which is probably the demilitarization of the Korean peninsula - which might threaten a lot of U.S. interests in South Korea. It is a complicated diplomatic dance. I would not give up on diplomacy at this point though. The military options are bad and worse. John smiles as he says that the one saving grace here is that the North Korean leader seems to be less irrational then the U.S. one – something he never thought he’d get to say.

John is delighted with all we have learned from Tim today and Tim appears to have enjoyed the conversation too. They speak of reclaiming democracy from the corporate establishment. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is not so popular now - given all the scandals around her, but she still pulls a lot of strings in the state of Florida and Tim is relying on grassroots support to beat her. Tim’s outro is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: I Won’t Back Down.

That was an extremely intelligent conversation with a very well-versed, passionate candidate. The links are in the video description – to donate and volunteer. Good luck on November 6th, 2018 Tim Canova!

​Jamie McLeod-Skinner on Healthcare; the role of Government and Investing in Renewables; Net neutrality; Oregon values; a Living wage; the Military and the Diplomatic Corps; MSM; Campaign funding and Education.

​Jamie McLeod-Skinner is the Democratic candidate for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District. She was interviewed by #WeThePeople on August 13th, 2018. She is running in the General election against Greg Walden – the Republican Incumbent (who had already amassed $4 million for the race at the time of this interview) and Mark Roberts – of the Independent Party of Oregon.

Jamie has degrees in engineering, planning and law. Her priorities are schools; healthcare and water rights.

After having worked in Bosnia and Kosovo, the organization that employed Jamie asked her to run the refugee resettlement office in San Jose (Bay Area). She worked in water and local government and served on a city council also, before coming home to Oregon, getting a law degree and really focusing on water. Why did Jamie decide to run in this race? She felt as others did too that once Greg Walden dropped the hammer on healthcare, he needed to be challenged. All the other 6 candidates from the Democratic primary are supporting my race – she tells us. Excellent - says John. They are a great group of folks and they brought a lot of different perspectives to the race. It really helped to energize folks as well – Jamie adds. Greg Walden – she continues, had promised to protect people with preexisting conditions. He didn’t and that puts 1 in 5 people in the 2nd District at risk. In travelling around the district, Jaime noticed there was tremendous agreement among the people when you focused on ideas rather than buzz words.

They talk a little about the Incumbent. Greg takes (more) money than anyone else in the House of Representatives. 7 different major corporate PAC groupings support him. Fossil Fuel, Big Pharma … There is a correlation between this and his voting record, which in many cases is hurting the folks in our district – Jamie says. John shows us a slide with a colorful pie chart on it. These are the top sectors supporting Walden in 2018. Health 25%, Energy (as in fossil fuel) 14.1%, Communications and Electronics (has ties to the broadcasting industry) 13.1% ... He will be surprised in November, because a lot of folks in the 2nd District are really frustrated with him – Jamie says. And he doesn’t support net neutrality or internet privacy either. John points to the voting record of Greg. He is an over-achieving Trump voter even by Nate Silver’s standards – he says.

So Jamie, what is your view on healthcare - which you obviously want, but tell us more - John asks? When I’m talking with voters throughout the district, even very conservative ones, there are 4 ideas that I like to talk about – Jamie replies.

1. Everyone having access (I’ll get back to that word in a minute) to a full range of physical and mental healthcare. 2. Managing costs. 3. Quality of care. 4.Care for the care-giver.

1. By access I (still) mean that everyone gets it. I’m talking about physical proximity. You shouldn’t have to drive 3 hours from where you live to get it. Rural communities should have a fully functioning healthcare facility in their community - for healthcare reasons and also for the (good of the) local economy.

2. Carve out the middleman and multiple layers of insurance companies and reduce it all to one insurance company. We could not only save close to 25% of our costs, but we could also have much stronger leverage to negotiate with Big Pharma - which is essentially gouging customers right, left and center.

Jamie then goes on to talk about a county in the far eastern part of the State. A Doctor there told her that this year it is no longer 5% but 18% who are without health coverage. She adds that Republicans in Eastern Oregon don’t think of healthcare as a progressive idea, but as providing for your family. It’s all in the wording. If you talk about guns, you talk about gun safety.

Jamie doesn’t believe that government needs to do everything. As she used to say when she was in office before “I don’t believe in spending money, but (rather) in investing it.” By that she means in children; in schools … Government needs to invest in renewable energy (instead of subsidizing fossil fuels) and to build the partnerships (including potentially with the private sector) to make sure those investments are successful. Jamie doesn’t agree with the fact that the Democratic Party has decided to take fossil fuel money again. There are a lot of decisions to be taken, given (the reality) of climate change. We have opportunities for renewables throughout the district – Jamie says. There is solar; wind; geothermal and more recently bio-fuel development in Lakeview. CD2 is 2/3 of Oregon. Lake County Oregon is on 100% renewable. It may be Red, Conservative, Republican County, but it makes good business sense. This is where subsidies (come in). Partner with the private sector. Provide incentives. Would you subsidize the renewable industry – John asks? I believe in private industry being independent (self-subsidizing) Jamie replies, but subsidies are sometimes necessary to get us there. I have no problem with that. It’s a smarter (healthier) investment. Climate change must factor into our decisions, investments and policies. It’s critic(al) because it’s related to so much else. Do people realize what is happening with climate change – John asks? It comes down to the individuals – Jamie answers. Farmers realize better than most.

(Audio issues). John talks of net neutrality and of how Greg Walden will have all the air time that he needs. Jamie tells us that with regard to net neutrality and broadband access, there is 90% agreement across the board (among voters). There is a real push to squash independent media and thought (which is part of restoring and protecting democracy) and to drive a wedge (between people). So thank you for the work that you are doing - she says to John!

(Jay Stanley) in YouTube chat likes Jamie’s practical approach and ideas. How can we help you to win in a historically Republican District is his question? Folks don’t take into consideration the people who are not registered with either party – Jamie answers. The key is to be able to challenge both parties when they fall short. Her district is around 40% non-affiliated or other, 35% Republican and 25% Democratic. Younger folks are frustrated with both political parties (fossil fuels, money in politics…). Folks in her district are more independent-minded, a little bit more on the Libertarian-side in some ways. Jaime speaks to them of Oregon values because we all care about our families and communities – she says. When that is the focus, people tend to step up and want to work together.

(Jeffrey Pearson) in YouTube chat asks whether it is possible to introduce a bill or a rider for employers to write-off wages, only if they’ve paid their employees enough to keep them off social assistance. Jamie thinks about that one, mindful of unintended consequences, the bigger picture and the larger roll-out – she says. I can say that the first piece of legislation I would like to carry would be that everyone in Congress gets the same level of healthcare as a majority of folks in their districts do. That should inspire them to take this issue seriously. Cool – says John. I think he was talking about or hinting at a living wage (though). I believe - Jamie says, that a living wage is very important. It helps to reduce the financial impacts on the system we have in place if people are not adequately paid. $15 or whatever isn’t adequate in certain communities. Jamie doesn’t want to tie “living wage” to a number because she says that it all varies from one community to another. She feels that a scale with a focus on living wage and tiered to what works for a specific region is a better approach. It also needs to be adjusted over time. Small business owners and even city mayors are worried about healthcare costs for their employees - John says. If the Federal government helped to manage a healthcare system (including - Jamie adds, audio, dental…) and made it possible for small business owners to pay a decent wage. That would help the employers. So is $15 across Oregon too much – asks John? I think - says Jamie, it should be indexed according to the cost of living in a region. Then if we were doing that and keeping up to pace – John comments, it’d be over $25 everywhere. Jamie agrees that that would be the case in Portland and some other places. She says that you need to look at the housing market, the cost of living … John pushes her on this though. I agree, but I think that minimum wage is minimum wage for a reason and $15 at this point in the 21st century seems like a reasonable minimum. Jamie sticks to her story and says that until we get our healthcare system fixed, you would still have these additional costs/burdens coming in … She starts talking about the “tax reform” that went through in December which was a huge giveaway to corporations and puts the $1.5 trillion deficit on the shoulders of future generations. It is also now being used as an argument to attack Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. That money could have paid off all student loan debt in the entire country. It’s a matter of (paying a) fair share and balancing things out. One has to make sure employers pay for an honest day’s work. Jamie says that based on Oregon regional indicators, she is sure there are places across the country where the (living wage) would be less than $15 an hour. John does accept that it needs to be phased in. Jamie says that there is no such thing as trickle-down (economics) and what we do need to do, is to provide resources to families who can then stimulate their local economy.

John and Jamie agree that everything impacts everything else. We have a big problem – John says. We have a government that chooses to spend most of our money on war, not on us. Jamie nods. So where is this money being spent?

Enough Democrats had to sign (off on) this $717 billion defense budget to make it happen – John says. Jamie agrees and adds that the U.S. Veterans are not being taken care of adequately when they return home. That is unconscionable. If you want to send them (to war), then you have to make allocations for them when they come home. It’s a matter of honor – she says! They agree that it’s the Military Industrial Complex that is getting (much of) the money, not those serving their country. Jamie also believes we should be investing heavily in our Diplomatic Corps. She says that her work in Bosnia and Kosovo taught her that we do need a military to protect us. Exciting and inspiring though the world can be, it can also be a dangerous place. Both (approaches) are necessary. We need to invest in our international relationships too. John at this point draws attention to the regime change (policies of the U.S.) since at least 1953 and Iran, which continued under Obama too. Do you believe in cutting back on that ridiculous effort we spend on regime change to rape this planet? Jamie is probably slightly shocked by the formulation, but recovers. Yes, I don’t think that is the direction we need to go in. She speaks of diplomacy being used to mitigate and prevent the outbreak of war. In the cases where the U.S. was aggressive (Iraq…), instability in the region was the result. It is – she says, very difficult because if you completely back out, you leave a dangerous environment where groups like Al-Qaeda … can form and flourish. There is a whole humanitarian crisis going on. We’ve contributed to that - she says. Do you agree - John asks, that the U.S. is supplying Saudi Arabia (which then) commits genocide in Yemen – even if it’s not being reported on MSM? Do you believe that information - because many don’t? Jamie is reluctant to answer without (more knowledge) but does agree that if MSM are failing to report the news, it does require non-traditional media to step up and report what needs to be known and to hold the policy makers responsible, so that U.S. dollars are not spent (in) attacking and killing people, including civilians.

Jamie emphasises that there are plenty of folks who identify as Republicans who are horrified at the idea of bombing civilians, separating children from parents … We need to appreciate that about each other because both sides keep getting gamed! And it’s the standard stereotypical politicians in Washington D.C. that win that game. We are all losing it. The vast majority of people in my district – she says, in our State and in the country, believe in human decency. What we need is better leadership. We need integrity, ethics and accountability in our leadership. Jamie thinks there will be big changes in Washington, and you are already seeing it in some of the primaries and in some of the people who are doing well and pushing back against the traditional status quo in Washington. People talk about a blue wave, but Jamie speaks about a socio-economic divide that is going on, with folks (requiring) and asking for accountability in politics.

Jilly would like to know whether Jamie’s policies align more with the Greens, the Democratic Socialists or the Democrats? That’s difficult – Jamie says. Look at my website and see for yourselves. I identify as a rural democrat. I think of the Democratic Party as being one that cares about people. I care about the environment, healthcare and my neighbors.

John lists Jamie’s qualifications. You have a lot of experience in infrastructure and in dealing with what communities need to survive. On the ground level - she says, I have worked with people who have been in these situations, people struggling with poverty, people who have been in war zones, refugees … In climate the big issue throughout our district is water – I have also worked in (this area).

Jamie talks of transcending party affiliation at a local level and coming together to solve problems. We are not moving forward on some pretty fundamental safety policies or healthcare policies because we are getting caught up in a political shouting match. John speaks of a group of individuals controlling the party at the National level who don’t necessarily agree with what the people are interested in doing with the Democratic Party, and Jamie says it is not just (the case in the Democratic) Party and speaks of the Washington D.C. Republicans as not being the same as the folks who vote Republican in her district and who are not served by those policies. People understand the impact of Greg Walden’s votes and that he is not serving the district.

(We see) – Jamie tells us, Greg’s attitude to healthcare, to net neutrality and his refusal to show up in order to debate me (although he said he would). You should be able to show up if you are proud of your record, and debate your record and those ideas. He hasn’t shown up for town halls in around a year now. Jamie tells us about a Republican lady who has in the past - but who will never vote for Greg Walden again. She, her sister and her father care for her mother who has Alzheimer’s. Her mother needs 24/7 care, but in order to look after her they have had to put the family farm on the market. It has been in the family for 3 generations. She is furious at him. He is not listening, showing up or serving the people in the district. We saw it in the Democratic Party in the last cycle, with people hearing Bernie and being excited when he talked about folks who were not being listened to. She thinks people voted for Donald Trump because they felt they were not being heard, and that at this point if you don’t listen you will be replaced. She points out that she gets a heck of a lot more money within the district than Greg Walden does. Jamie is better served in her district being more of a Progressive Democrat, which you are - John says, than towing party line at the national level, because her district doesn’t like that line. John asks whether Jamie thinks people regret their Donald Trump vote, but Jamie likes to look forward not back. She again points out that what John calls progressive ideas, are conservative or libertarian ones depending on who you talk to in her district. John smiles and wishes her well in communicating these progressive or conservative ideas and being able to replace Greg Walden who is definitely not doing Oregon any good. We have a 20 county strategy, over 1200 volunteers and we have over $300,000 now – she says.

If you are in a district where you are happy with your Congressional Representative, adopt our district and use it as an opportunity to bring positive change and accountability to Washington – Jamie tells the audience.

On education, I would like to see an exchange of public service for college education or trade school - and young folks love (the idea). They agree that that could be made affordable. It’s an investment - Jamie says.

Jamie is a Democrat, but it on her card it says “People before Party”.

Jamie chose Luke Ryan’s song: Most people are good (which is also Jaime’s theme) as an outro. YouTube won’t let us play it though - Laura says. So go listen to it on YouTube. John points out that they have been doing #WeThePeople for 3 years now. For two of those they were able to play much of the musical content that they wanted, but at this point corporate media has worked with YouTube to make it impossible to play any of the mainstream content. It’s greed – he says. This isn’t a question of the artists owning the content or making any money. These are corporations that own this.

They go out with The revolution will not be televised by Gil Scott Heron - Bernie Sanders version. I believe this is still okay to play. It’s the truth. If we don’t work to put Representatives in office that will vote for the people and not corporate interests, we will end up without this, without anything of a democracy ... and we are moving away from that fast. He urges people to come together to get rid of Greg Walden and reminds them that if Jamie is in office, she is an employee and we as employers have to make sure our employee is doing the job we’d like her to do. That’s our responsibility. We are trying to achieve a functional democracy here. We are winning – he says (suddenly hopeful).

The links are in the video description – to donate and volunteer. Good luck on November 6th, 2018 Jamie McLeod-Skinner!

​Marcia Squier on the different Political Parties; Campaign finance; Foreign policy; Climate change; the NFL and Flint.

​Marcia Squier is an Independent running as a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan. She was interviewed by #WeThePeople on September 11th, 2017. She is running against John James (Republican), Debbie Stabenow (Corporate Democratic Incumbent), John Howard Wilhelm (Natural Law) and George Huffman III (U.S. Taxpayers).

Bernie Sanders’ Presidential campaign inspired Marcia to run for office and she decided to go after the Incumbent over what she refers to as “The Dark Act” - which is officially called the “Denying Americans Right to Know Act” (a GMO labeling law). This was around the same time as Debbie Stabenow overruled the will of the people of Michigan by backing the 2nd placed candidate in the Democratic Primary in the State. She and all the other Michigan superdelegates did that. 7 of the 17 superdelegates were elected officials (Senate and House) and Marcia holds them personally responsible. Marcia was always an Independent and liked that Bernie was too. She is technically a Green Party member, and she agrees with a very large percentage of the Green Party platform, even probably more so than with Bernie’s platform, but she thinks that she can reach out to a broader part of the electorate as an Independent. She has friends in all parties. It enables those people to vote for her based on platform and not party line. She’s wants to represent The People and is a non-corporatist. What are your feelings – John asks, on the whole #DemEnter and #DemExit business and 3rd party movement versus working within the parties? Marcia supports the all-sides approach. She started a candidate group of her own called #yournameforoffice2018, which is multi-partisan/independent … Anybody that doesn’t belong to the 1% can join the group and promote their campaign. We all need to do this together – she says. We need an army of candidates if we are ever going to turn this country around. It’s not a conservative versus non-conservative fight. It’s the 1% versus the 99% and we need a fresh batch of uncorrupted officials.

John agrees but wonders if that includes Kid Rock? Is he part of the 99%? He’s got money – says Laura in the background. Is he a corporatist, a musician? Marcia talks about Kid Rock, and says that she thinks though that he is out of touch with what Americans of today are going through. He talks about the redistribution of wealth like it is a bad thing! John thought that what Kid Rock said was vulgar and offensive and was very much in line with Trump. I see the division in the Democratic Party between Bernie’s progressive wing and the establishment corporatist Democrats - John says. Do you see the same in the GOP between what we used to consider sane and rational although asshole and this crazier racist group, or do you think they are all the same and we just didn’t notice? Marcia thinks Trump breathed new life into that party and that all those who do have racist tendencies tend to gravitate towards (him). Coming back to Kid Rock and some of what he said … Marcia doesn’t blame single-moms (and she loves kids) but rather the system that keeps them that way, and says we should end the war-on-drugs and let the dads out of jail to take care of their children. The war-on-drugs is just a targeting tool for the minorities. Regarding Kid Rock, Marcia says that she doesn’t think he truly respects the First Amendment and we (are supposed to) respect all gods or lack of a god. Marcia is catholic and baptized all four children, but she is more interested in comparing religions than going to church every Sunday. We need to go after the 1% and not the poorest people, whilst acting like they are the root of all of our problems. I’m starting to think that Kid Rock is Michigan’s Pied Piper candidate for Debbie Stabenow.

While on the subject of Debbie Stabenow, they note that the Incumbent hangs out with Bono (and the Edge), takes money from Dow Chemical, Emily’s List, Monsanto, Goldman Sachs … Where do you take your money from – asks John? Individuals that are American citizens – Marcia replies. I don’t take Super PAC or party money, because I’m running as an Independent. I don’t even want donations over $100. I think the best way to get my name out there is the grapevine method. The shenanigans of the T.V. and media (people) during the 2016 presidential campaign brought Marcia to YouTube. So how are you reaching out – John asks? Facebook, Twitter, YouTube … Marcia had previously run for office in 2016 - as a Green, so some YouTube interviews date from then – she tells us.

Any questions Laura – John asks? Yes – she replies. Lynn is curious as to what aspects of the Green Party platform Marcia preferred to Bernie’s. Foreign policy most notably – Marcia answers. The Green Party platform is stronger on an anti-interventionist type stance. Bernie voted for the F-35 and Mad Dog Mattis. I do like his stance on cannabis legalization and his domestic policy though. Those are also in the Green Party platform. Debbie and the Democrats are secretly warmongers. Obama took us from attacking 2 to 7 or 8 countries and drones killing 90% civilians. People in Yemen are being purposefully starved to death. Palestinians are being purposefully genocided and used as guinea pigs for military grade weapons that Israel then sells to our military and/or police forces. Also, the Democrats (tend to) greenwash. They like fracking and pretending to care about the environment. They are corporatists and are paid money not to care. Debbie co-authored the Dark Act on behalf of Monsanto - says Marcia. That’s terrible – replies John. Someone should tell Bono.

On the subject of climate and climate change, do you agree with Naomi Klein when she says that our planet is on a death spiral? What should we do about it – asks John? Pollution and man-made pollution, fracking that is causing earthquakes, radioactive waste-water … All of these emissions in the air are bad for us. We don’t want to breathe carcinogens – Marcia answers. The people on the left are not hard to convince. With the people on the right, you have to talk about their pocketbook and about how renewable energy (off the grid) is not only good for the environment but good for national security purposes because if we have an outage it’s not going to cause the entire Eastern Seaboard to go out (as happened before). Use definitions of it but not the words climate change or they will plug their ears. Tell them that none of these corporations give a crap about our drinking water or our soil or our air. We have to do it. They won’t do it for us. You could talk of how oil drilling in the Gulf and the rise in sea temperatures makes hurricanes worse, and maybe we could ban that (drilling) … Why should we be addicted to fossil fuels forever? It’s a finite resource. It’s in everyone’s best interests to focus on green energy and biodegradable plastics (through) hemp products and such.

Marcia teaches sports to little kids but has been boycotting Pro Sports for quite some time now. I support Colin and his using his platform to get a message (out). If I get elected to the Senate and they play The Star Spangled Banner, I’ll take both knees in honor of black lives and brown people and minorities of every kind that have been getting squashed by the 1%, aided by the corporatists who are puppets to the 1%. Marcia muses that NFL games and rock concerts – at a time when many people don’t have the kind of money to support such extra-curricular activities, are designed in a way to put us asleep so we aren’t fighting them. If you aren’t at a game, perhaps you are spending quality time with your kid, riding a bike, attending a protest or participating in a ballot initiative … John doesn’t disagree at all. Marcia thinks Colin was well within his Constitutional Rights. The NFL is confusing patriotism with exercising your First Amendment rights. John says that players have been busted for all sorts of different things, but they are not allowed use their platform for politics or to point out the fact that the NFL is racist. They are highly paid racists – Marcia says. The actual Star Spangled Banner itself is about a battle between a white and black battalion. Needless to say the black battalion lost. There is also a verse that we don’t sing - she says (because the words are problematic). They also hid the whole “Concussions cause brain damage” thing … they are a shady organization.

John brings up Flint. The problem is still not resolved. Yes, (that’s true) - Marcia replies. They have had no clean drinking water in nearly three and a half years now (09/11/2017). There is lots of blame to go around. You’ve got the City that is (Democratic) and the Republican Governor Rick Schneider who wants Michigan to pay his legal fees. He wants to coat the pipes and not replace them! This is the guy who literally poisoned an entire city. They can’t even take hot showers or boil the water because it will send all the contaminants (lead and a lot more) into the air. They have to use all bottled water and then you have companies like Nestle who want to come in and get Michigan’s water for free, in order to then turn around and charge everyone for it. They are trying to make Flint residents pay for their poisoned water and the bills are higher than they used to be. They can’t move out because they are destitute at this point and who wants to buy a house in Flint? It’s not just Flint anymore. They are doing this to everybody. All this austerity, look what it got us! Governor Schneider has a budget surplus right now - or he did, and yet Flint is still poisoned. Marcia says Republicans don’t run in the cities, because they like to point the finger at the Democrats … It’s a good cop / bad cop thing – with them. All the corporate politicians do (that) - says John.

Why vote for Marcia? Because a vote for Marcia is a vote for the people – not just of Michigan, but of this country and planet – she says. I’m a humanitarian, not a corporatist. I love people. I’m doing this for the kids who aren’t old enough to vote for this mess that we are going to put them in, and we really need to do something about it. We as voters have to take responsibility for the politicians we put in office and can’t just trust they are doing the job they said they would do. We can look them up on OpenSecrets.org and find out who they are really representing. I’m not in there or in WikiLeaks – she grins. I’m only on crowdpac.com. You can donate $27 or $2 or if you’re broke then maybe endorse my campaign and share with people online. We need to be of, by and for the people, not of, by and for the corporations anymore. It’s not working. We’ve got to be more worried about us than the bottom line.

Awesome - says John. Peace and love to all - says Marcia. John reminds people that if they’re not running for office, they need to be helping people that are.

The links are in the video description – to donate and volunteer. Good luck on November 6th, 2018 Marcia Squier!